Unreported Workplace Accidents

14102008

We have all kinds of statistics at Federal, State, County, and Township levels in this country.That’s the good news. The bad news is that these various agencies rarely share data and in general it is difficult for average citizens to extract good stats. There are excellent examples of easy to use stats and of course examples that border on nightmarish.

I have always been especially interested in unreported statistics. Like unreported workplace accidents. As an attorney with 30 years experience in South Florida, Harvey Friedman tells clients to make sure they get an injury report in writing within 30 days of having an accident on the job. He has seen countless times where a company does not report an injury for a number of reasons…

So the stats themselves are a little frightening but the unreported stats estimates are probably shocking. If it were not for relentless journalists, a lot of that information would never see the light of day.

The point is that the unreported stats might be more important than the reported stats. The House Committee on Education and Labor just released a report in 2008 trying to determine if OSHA is enforcing workplace safety adequately. So paying for studies on unreported workplace accidents is Absurd NOT. It’s actually vital to protect the workforce from bad company management.